The present invention relates to a device for the compressive handling of a strip of material, especially a strip of paper, having at least four rollers arranged on parallel axes, which rollers cooperate in pairs. The rollers form at least one pair of vertical and one pair of horizontal rollers and at least one roller of each pair is movably mounted in such a way as to permit a change in the size of the space or compressive zone between two rollers.
In the known rolling devices, the introduction of the leading end of the strip of material usually takes place into the first compressive zone and the threading through the remaining compressive zones takes place in smoothing apparatus with the aid of a table guide, between the two cables of which the edges of the strip of material to be guided are clamped. It is disadvantageous in these known rolling devices, that the strip of material is not guided through all available roller pairs. To accomplish this, the cable guide must be modified to a new course before the introduction of the strip of material and this is expensive. A relatively great expense is also required by another known device for the introduction of the leading end of a strip of material into a smoothing device (DT-OS No. 2,636,887), because there is not only required a plurality of transport units having a conveyor belt and a suction box, but also the arrangement of these transport units requires changing if the course of the strip of material is to be changed.